Curtain rod or the like



May 30, 1950 s. w. PEGRAM CURTAIN ROD OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 2, 1946INVENTOR.

Patented May 30, 1950 UN ED S TATES T OFF ICE *GURT-AIN non on LIKESamuel W. Pegrarn, Park Hills, Ky. Application February 2, 1946,SerialNo.*64 5,=197

This inventionrelates to "a curtainrod which is of substantialconstruction and adapted to support heavy drapes securely. It is of thekind that needs no special anchorage.

One object of the invention is to provide a rod that will not turn orshift on its own axis due to the weight of the drapes. Another object isto provide means whereby the rod may be expanded tightly into a windowframe or door frame "with little effort on the part of the installer. Athird object is to make it possible to place or remove the drapeswithout disturbing the position of the rod.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of one form of my rod, which Icall the toggle type, installed in a window frame or door frame.

Figure 2 is a plan detail of the hinge construction of the drape-holdingarms.

Figure 3 is an end view of the same.

Figure 4 is a plan view partly in section, of the toggle type rodinstalled and about to be tightened, side plates being provided foradditional supports.

Figure 5 is a plan view similar to Figure 4 showing the rod tightenedand the additional supports installed on the right hand side plate.

Figure 6 is a plan View of the toggle mechanism in tightened orflattened position taken on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a cross section of the supporting bar and drape holdingbrackets taken on the line I--1 of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a cross section of the main supporting bar taken on the line8-8 of Figure 5. It shows the toggle latch in locked position.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of one of the side plates used betweenthe window frame and the main rod to hold additional supports.

Figure 10 shows in side elevation, taken on the line llll0 of Figure 5,how the additional supports are held by the side plate.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a channel support or clip attachableto a slide which is in turn attachable to the side plate whereby a rodor rods may be held at some distance in front of the window or doorway.

Figure 12 is a plan view partly in section of a modification in whichtightening is obtained by means of a screw rather than a toggle. Thetoggle is, however, the preferred form.

In the drawings, 20 is a hollow rod of polygonal cross section,preferably square. It comprises two telescoping sections, 2|, thesmaller, and 22 the larger. The free end of each section is providedwith a rubber suction cup 23 although 2 Claims. (01. 211-105.4)

' these may be nmitt'ed when side plates are to be used. Slidable on thesquare sections, there are two clips 24, slidable thereon, supportingthe drape holding brackets 25 of which there are two in opposedposition. These are bent upon themselves with a hinge 13 at the bend, sothat the longer forward rod can beiswung out into the room asindicatedin'ddttedline in Figure 1. In this position, the drapes can beconveniently slipped over the extended rod. Their weight is wellsupported since the square section of the rods 2-1 and =22 :prevents theclips :24 from turning about said rods.

At the *inner end of rod 22 thereis collar 26 bearing a pivot 21 towhich 'a toggle "28 is sw'ingably attached. The free end of the toggle*is provided with a latch 29 which fits into a linear series of holes 30in the top of bar 2|.

To attach the suction cups yieldably to the square bars 2l-22, thefollowing spring-pressed device may be employed although it may not benecessary. The suction cups may be vulcanized directly to the bar ends.However, the construction shown is preferred for fabrication infactories where the vulcanization apparatus is not available. 3| is astop which is held within the square bars by a punch mark (not shown)applied from the outside. A coil spring 32 presses against it. Againstthe free end of this spring a solid bar 33 presses and to the free endof said bar, the rubber cup 23 is attached, mechanically or otherwise.The value of the spring pressure is that the spring is just stiff enoughto fasten the cup to the window frame securely without mashing it fiat,so that the installer is then easily able to avoid too much pressure.

Sometimes it is desired to hold continuouslength curtain rods (notshown) in front of a window instead of the discontinuous ones 25 whichare shown. A continuous rod makes it possible to bring the curtainstogether and so shut off a View into the room from the outside. Toprovide such privacy, side plates 34, such as shown in Figure 9 areinstalled as shown in Figures 4 and 5. Each plate bears a track 35 uponwhich a slide 36 may be frictionally fitted. This slide has asemicircular cradle 31 at its outer end, which with its correspondingmember at the other side of the window frame, may together bear acontinuous rod laid therein. For those who wish valances to extend fromthe top of their drapes, a clip 38 is provided which may be attached tothe cradle 31 by means of a lip 39. Two continous rods with drapes orvalances thereon may then be supported.

asoaeai In the modification shown in Figure 12, the bars and 52 arepreferably circular in cross section and they are connected by aninternal solid rod or pipe 60, threaded on its outer surface. A knurledcircular nut 4| is provided to space the bars 5! and 52 and to providepressure on the cups 33. A dowel pin 42 extends through bar 5| and rod40 to provide a fulcrum.

To install both modifications, it is necessary to telescope theassemblies so that they are slightly shorterthan the width of the windowframe, then lift them into place and extend them by operating thelengthening and pressing devices, i. e., the toggle or the knurled nut.The toggle may be preliminarily placed in the position shown in Figure 4and then flattened to the position shown in Figure 5 to put springpressure on the suction cups. If the pressure is not enough, the nexthole should be selected for the toggle latch to make the bar longer. Anyperson of common sense can deduce the operation from a casual inspectionof the device.

I claim as my invention:

1. A support for curtains and the like comprising a pair of telescopingrods of rectangular cross section, suction cups on the free ends of saidrods, and adjustable toggle means intermediate of the rod ends forputting limited pressure on the suction cups in the direction of thelongitudinal axis of the rods when the curtain support is fitted into awindow frame, doorway or the like, one end of said toggle means beingadjustable as to its fulcrum location selectively in a series ofopenings along the inner one of said rods, the other end being hingedlyattached to the inner end of the outer one of said rods.

2. A support for curtains or the like comprising a pair of telescopinghollow rods of square cross section, a collar carried on the outer oneof said rods on its inner end, a toggle pivotally mounted on saidcollar, a latch on the free end of said toggle, the smaller of said rodsbearing a row of perforations adapted to receive the latch whereby toadjust the length of the combined rods, a pair of clips slidably mountednear the free ends of the rods and a bent, hinged bracket carried byeach clip, said bracket being swingable outwardly to receive curtains ordrapes and thereafter to be swung to parallel relation to the joinedrods with the curtains.

SAMUEL W. PEGRAM.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 647,986 Roberts Apr. 24, 1900670,585 Fowler Mar. 26, 1901 794,976 Glickman July 18, 1905 1,191,852Thomas July 18, 1916 1,639,551 Booth Aug. 16, 1927 1,668,140 BuchheitMay 1, 1928 2,032,842 Gould Mar. 3, 1936 2,242,683 Scott May 20, 1941FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 521,156 Great Britain May 14, 19 16

